Chasing Shadows
by Tigress in da room
Summary: Sometimes it is best to not be seen. "Never let someone remember your face". Adventure and danger are assured when you work with a cat... Worth/OFC. other pairings if you squint. Rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

Keen Eyes, Swift Feet, Sharp Claws: Chapter One: The Gilded Cat

Worth heaved himself to his feet. Scratching his messy blonde hair, he squinted out the window the same way he might as if a bright light was suddenly turned on. That was how much daylight hurt his eyes. It was the middle of summer, and the hottest day of the year so far. With a few slaps on the back of his ancient radio, Luce could hear tell that there was due to be an enormous rainstorm that night and he sighed dramatically with relief.

Even Aussies needed a break from the heat occasionally.

But Worth decided to make the most of the weather while it lasted. He moved away from the mouldering armchair he had been passed out in from lack of sleep, and left his heavy fur lined coat there as well. It was too damned hot for that thing.

Luce left the radio chattering, and threw open the window to clear out the smells of the heat. It would help if he could actually see in his 'clinic' when he was stitching people up. The haze cleared, though no wind chased through the heat-emptied streets. Not wanting to fog the place up again and have the window open for any longer than it had to be, Worth pulled a crumpled cigarette from his pocket and jiggled his lighter in his bony fingers as he walked towards the door to the clinic.

With some persuasion from a pointed shoulder, the crappy door swung outwards from it's swollen frame and scrunched against the rubbish collecting in the alley outside. Worth may not have much care for hygiene, but he wasn't an enormous fan of rats. Maybe he could conscript Count Fagula into cleaning it up for him some time. Or he could wait and hope it got washed away by the rain.

Worth shrugged to himself in the thinning green t-shirt he had unearthed and lit up. He let the cancer stick hang between his lips as he squinted out at the bright sunlight patch a little further up the alley. The low roof of his building kept the light directly from his door, so Worth wasn't immediately assaulted by the sun, but just looking at it made his eyes water slightly.

There wasn't much reason for him to go outside for a fag, but it had become something of a habit. After difficult or noisy procedures, he'd light up outside. if business was slow and he was looking to draw some sorry sobs in for some stitches, he'd light up outside. But that wasn't the reason today.

On occasions rare enough to count on one hand, Worth had noticed a cat lounging on top of the concrete fence that sectioned off the alley. But this wasn't just another mangy tomcat.

The creature Worth had seen before was something that always looked as if it didn't belong in such a dim and dingy place as where Luce had situated his 'clinic'. It was sleek, fast and golden.

That's right. A golden cat.

Any other time, Luce might've put it down to some fuck up on Hanna's or Lamont's part; maybe it was another of their weird little group. But then again, it could be another of these fancy European cats that had long names, long fur, and squished up faces. Worth grimaced as he remembered the positively vicious thing his bitchy sister had rescued once. It had had a face so flat it was a wonder it had any nose at all, and pale fur that was in constant need of brushing and washing. It hadn't thought much of Worth either. He'd been glad to see it shot with a BB gun by one of the local twerps that hung around on his childhood estate.

But this cat didn't seem to notice anything around it. At least not in the past. Worth's trips outside during the day had grown more frequent, in slim hopes that he may be able to see the creature better. And today he was in luck.

Said cat was, again, lounging on top of the concrete fence. It's long, slim tail was curling at the end for reasons unknown, and it's large, tilted eyes were closed. It sat up however, like a sphinx, looking both asleep and alert. The fur was not long on it's lean body, but looked thick and soft and well-kempt. Much unlike Worth, who stood puffing away, studying.

He had never seen a cat like it. Fur shot through with true gold, copper, honey and other curious shades so that it looked gilded. Shadows in it's hollows appeared as burnt gold or copper, and the highlights as bright as spun filigree. Definitely one of these rare-breeds.

But it's face was something that set it apart, even further than the glittering fur. It's snout was thick and stumpy, and looked to house enormous teeth. The nose was much wider, and twitched constantly as it's owner scented the air. The slightly rounded ears were reversed, listening from behind. Worth noticed with a jolt how much it looked almost like a lion, minus the mane.

But that jolt broke the moment. The cat picked up the tiny sound of Worth's clothes rustling, and fixed it's un-concerned eyes on Worth. The emerald green held his gaze unblinking. Luce stared back.

The cat raised it's rump to the sky and did that curious stretch, dragging it's claws along the concrete. Then it velveted them once more and padded off along the fence top, skinnier than a matchbox, with more grace than any other feline Worth had seen.

He sniffed at it, stubbed out his cigarette, and went back inside.

That was enough fucked up shit for one day.

**AN: short chapter is short. However, I would like to point out that this will be a multi-chapter fic, even if I can't guarantee those updates to be regular. Also, first HINABN fic, please don't hate. **

**Reviews welcome,**

**Tigress in Da Room.**


	2. Chapter 2: Author's Notes

Authors Notes: sorry guys!

As you might have noticed, I've seriously been struggling to keep my updates regular and close together on all my fics. This is mainly because I have had a fuck-ton of exams recently, and only more to come, as well as the fact that all the time I would have been writing in I've either not been in the right frame of mind to write, or I've been role-playing my OC on Tumblr. The Tumblr thing's just starting to take off, so until it's got a good steady set of threads coming and going, I probably won't be updating anything with the quantity or quality of work I was before, if ever.

There might be an occasional one-shot now and again, but nothing absolutely stellar, purely because I'm not in the mood for oneshots at the moment, but I will get the requests I currently have done.

Probably the only thing I will update when I can is my ROTG fic, A King's Queen, because I'm really getting into it as I've AU'ed and OC'd it so much that I hardly have to keep original characters in character anymore and it's also getting closer and closer to the climax of that particular story.

So, in short, updates will most likely be put on hold for an unknown length of time, but the ROTG fic will be the priority when it comes to updates. Also, the other fics are on hold because I feel like I hardly know my characters and plots anymore, so I seriously need to take a step back and look at how I'm writing everything. Updates will resume regular pattern at some point, most likely near the summer holidays here in England.

Keep following guys, I will get round to everything eventually ,

Tigress in Da Room

P.s: All those of you that have faithfully reviewed, favourite and followed thus far, you have my thanks for putting up with and supporting me for so long. Peace out dudes.


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